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According to church tradition, St. Valentine was a priest near Rome in about the year 270 A.D. During this time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. Claudius was having trouble getting married men to join his army because they were more emotionally attached to their families and, thus, they wouldn’t volunteer to join the army because they did not want to leave their wives and families. So Claudius issued an edict forbidding marriage. Most people thought this law was cruel. Valentine, a bishop, did not support the new law, and seeing the trauma of young lovers, he met them and kept performing marriage ceremonies secretly. Obviously, at some point Claudius heard about this “friend of lovers”. One night, Valentine was caught and thrown in jail. The emperor, impressed with the young priest’s dignity and conviction, attempted to convert him to believing in the Roman gods to save him from certain execution. Valentine refused to recognize Roman gods and even tried to convert the emperor to Christianity. The result of the conflict was that on February 14, 270 A.D., Valentine was executed.
While Valentine was in prison awaiting his fate, many young people came to visit him. One was the blind daughter of his jailor, Asterius. Asterius begged him to heal his daughter. Through his faith, Valentine miraculously restored the sight of Asterius’ daughter. On the day of his execution, Valentine wrote a farewell note to the daughter signed “Love from your Valentine”, a phrase that lived ever after.
From your Valentine: Valentine, thus, became a Patron Saint and the spiritual overseer of an annual festival. The festival involved young Romans offering to women they admired, and wished to court, handwritten greetings of affection on February 14th, the day of Valentine’s execution. So the greeting cards acquired St. Valentine’s name. The Valentine’s Day card spread with Christianity and is now celebrated in many parts of the world.
